How common is the surname Rutherford?

28,079 people in the United States had the surname Rutherford in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 10,996 Americans. It ranked 1,250th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Rutherford?

Margaret Rutherford, British actress (1892–1972), followed by Kelly Rutherford.

Where is the surname Rutherford most common?

Wikidata records people named Rutherford in the United States, the United Kingdom and The Bahamas.

How do you pronounce Rutherford?

Rutherford is /ˈrʌðərfərd/, 3 syllables.

Is the surname Rutherford getting more or less common?

More common. 27,539 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 28,079 in 2010, up 2.0%.

Is Rutherford also a first name?

Yes. Rutherford is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Rutherford

A place surname, carried by 28,079 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈrʌðərfərd/ 3 syllables Soundex R361 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Rutherford is more common than 99.2% of them.

Origin

From Old English hryþer (“cattle”) + ford (“ford”). The first element is from Proto-Germanic *hrunþaz.

Rutherford is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 28,079 people named Rutherford in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 10,996 Americans. That is up 2.0% since 2000, when the Census counted 27,539.

#1,250

rank among US surnames

28,079

people in 2010

9.5

per 100,000 Americans

+2%

change since 2000 (was #1,167)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,241	Madison	28,411	10,867
#1,242	Childs	28,359	10,887
#1,243	Belcher	28,321	10,902
#1,244	Wills	28,219	10,941
#1,245	Womack	28,201	10,948
#1,246	Dye	28,182	10,955
#1,247	Arthur	28,102	10,987

Who is named Rutherford

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

82% of people named Rutherford identified as white (not Hispanic), 12% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.3% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 82%
Black (not Hispanic) 12%
Two or more races 2.3%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.2%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Rutherfords

11 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Margaret Rutherford
British actress (1892–1972)
Kelly Rutherford
American actress, born 1968
Joseph Franklin Rutherford
American lawyer, Watch Tower Society president (1869–1942)
Zara Rutherford
Belgian-British pilot, born 2002
Jesse Rutherford
American singer, songwriter and actor, born 1991
Frank Rutherford
Bahamian triple jumper (born 1964)
Johnny Rutherford
American racecar driver, born 1938
John Rutherford
American politician, born 1952
Dan Rutherford
American politician, born 1955
Countee Cullen
American author (1903–1946)
John Rutherfurd
(1760-1840) United States Senator from New Jersey

Notable Rutherfords come mostly from the United States (8), the United Kingdom (2) and The Bahamas (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Rutherford

Rutherford has the Soundex code R361, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code R361.

Questions

Where does the surname Rutherford come from?: From Old English hryþer (“cattle”) + ford (“ford”). The first element is from Proto-Germanic *hrunþaz.
How common is the surname Rutherford?: 28,079 people in the United States had the surname Rutherford in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 10,996 Americans. It ranked 1,250th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Rutherford?: In the 2010 Census, 82% of people named Rutherford identified as white (not Hispanic), and 12% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Rutherford?: Margaret Rutherford, British actress (1892–1972), followed by Kelly Rutherford.
Where is the surname Rutherford most common?: Wikidata records people named Rutherford in the United States, the United Kingdom and The Bahamas.
How do you pronounce Rutherford?: Rutherford is /ˈrʌðərfərd/, 3 syllables.
What type of surname is Rutherford?: Rutherford is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Rutherford getting more or less common?: More common. 27,539 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 28,079 in 2010, up 2.0%.
Is Rutherford also a first name?: Yes. Rutherford is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.